Label applying machines



Oct 18, 1955 G. w. voN Hor-'E LABEL. APPLYING MACHINES Filed Feb. 1l, 1953 ATTORNEYS United States Patent Giltice 2,720,995 Patented Oct. 18, 1955 2,120,995 LABEL APPLYNGMACHINES George W. von Hofe, Bound Brook, N., 1;, assignor to New Jersey Machine Corporation, Hoboken, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 11, 1953,.Serial No. 336,261 11 Claims. (Cl. 216-55) This invention relates to label.applyingV machines and particularly to that classof labelingmachines in which the labels are fed from a source of supply to a label applying station aty which they are placed upon articles-and then subjectedto the action of a-pressltrtv device to com.- plete their application to the articles.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved labeling mechanism capable of reducing the. period of label application to enable an increase in Athe feeding time 'of the labels without slowing down the machine or to enable a substantial increase inthe productionA of the machine without reducing thefeeding time of thelabels.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide an im.- proved labeling mechanism capable of removing entrapped air from under the label during the application of pressure to the latter so as to secure perfect adhesion of the label to the article.

A further object of the invention-isV tofprovide an improved labeling mechanism capable of applying pressure to the label immediately after it has'been placed'on the article.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved labeling mechanism capable of applying a high pressure to the label without increasing: the. power` used in the machine and withoutapplying high forces to the article being labeled.

Other objectsvand advantages of theinvention, aswell as the novel features thereof will appear fromY a perusal of the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawingsin which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational View. of a label applying machine embodying. the invention, and

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view. of some of the parts shown in Fig. l.

In the following des criptonthe useof the termv labeP7 is intended to include any sheet of material which is to be deposited on an article for the purpose of identifying the contents thereof, or for any other purpose. The label may have any desired form and. mayY have thereon any suitable type of adhesive material for adhering it to the article. Also the labels may be fed from a. continuous web or from a supply of individual labels, as is well known in the art. in accordancev with. the. invention, the labelsV are fed from the source of; label supply to the article support itl byl means of a pickfup device. of the suction'operated type which` is designated. generally in the drawings by theV numeral 11. After a4 label has been deposited upon the article 1,2.- positioned. on Support-.19, pressure mechanism designated generally by the. reference numeral 13 comesY into operation to.V complete the adhesive application of the. label toA the article. In gen,- eral the machine in which the aforesaid devicesare. ern.- bodied may be of any well-known type, but modified in accordance with the present invention. For the purposes of illustrating the invention,l suchv devices, have been shown as embodied in a labeling',machine, such as. is described and illustrated in the von. Hofe Patentv No. 2,227,816 issued January 7, 1941.. In such ag. machine there.. is provided a carriage. 14 (see Fig. l) slidably mounted on a horizontal guide rail 15 supported on the frame of the machine. Thev carriage 14 is reciprocated lengthwise, of the rail 15 in predetermined timed. sequence by mechanism exemplified in Fig. 1 of the drawings by the rod 16` which is pivotally connected at 17 to the carriage. A memebn or plungerV 18.. is slidably mounted on the carriage 14and is vertically reciprocated thereon in properly timed relation with the associated parts by mechanism eXemplied inFig. 1 of the drawings by the roller 19 which is adapted to travel along a horizontally extending-track 20 arranged to be raised and lowered to reciprocateV the member 18. The downward movement of the member 18 may be facilitated by a vertically disposed spring 21 which isl connected at lits lower end to thefcarriage 14 and at its upper endto a lug. 22: on the member 18. Secured to the lowerfendof the member 18 through-ayoke 33. is the label carrier or transporting device 11'.

ltwill; be understood fromthe partsV of the labeling machine thus far described, that when in the operation of the machine, the partsv are positioned as shown in Eig; 1;, a labell 23 has just been deposited by the carrier 11: upongthe article 12 andthe track 20 has been raised to lift-,thermemberf 18 and consequently the label carrier 11 away fromthe article. The label carrier 11 is of the suetiontype and isconnected by tube 34 with a convenientt source. ofv suction which is controlled by properly timed valving-means of any suitable typel so that suction isfetfectedlat thelabelcatrrying surface 24'of such device, while'tis picking up a label from the source of label supply andluntil the,v label carried thereby has been deposited on the article 12. ln the position of the label carrier: 11 Vshown in Eig. 1;. of the-drawings,vthe suction theretohas been eut off by such valving means. From its position-inlFig. l of the drawings, the label carrier 11 is retracted bythe carriage. 14 which is caused to move to theV right, as viewed in Fig. l of the drawings. When the carriage V1,41 reaches the'r-ightahand limit of its movement alongthe. rail 1K5', the label carrier 11 will be located above and in registry with the next label at the source of label supply, to be deliveredV to a succeeding article to begltgtbeled.` The movable rail A2() will. then be lowered totenable, the` labelcarrier. 11.- to pick upy such label. At thistitne suction is again elected at the label supporting surface24fof the carrier A11. When a label 23 has been pic-lied up by the carrier 11, the track 20 is again raised to elevate. theA member 18 and consequently the label carrier 1,1. The carriage'14-is then caused to move to-the left, asviewed in Fig. 1 of the drawings to-bring the label car-rien 11 over the articie12 mounted on the support 1l) in` label receiving position. The track is then again lowered andztheirnember 18 moves downwardly on the carriage 14 thereby causing the label carrier 11 to deposit. the label 23- carried thereby upon the article 12. To. enable this tobe accomplished, the valving means operatesto discontinue the suction inthe label carrier 1,-1.. When the disposition of the label has been completed, the label carrier llis lifted by the action of track 2Q on the roller: 1 9 and member 18, thus bringing these parts bach to the positions shown in Fig. l of the drawings., to` repeat they operations above described.

After the. deposition of, a label 23; on the article 12, a roliler 25; of the-pressing mechanism 13V is lowered to the dotted linepositionshown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, to enable, it to press the labely onto the article 12 as the carringe li-retracts the label carrier 11 to the label supply station. to. receive a new label in thev manner above de.- scribed. As shown in the drawings, the roller 25 is ro,- tatably mountedon a shaft 26 supported at its ends on the offset,` downwardly extending end portions of a pair of spacedV arms 27, 27'. The other ends of arm 27, 27; are

y the stub 'ishafts 28, `Vand' Ythe tie-rod'` 30' pivotally..connectedbystubshafts28,28,.tospacedblockse- 29, 29 mounted on the carrier 11. Adjacently to the oliset end portions of the` arrris 27, 27, the farms are connected togetherby 'a' ltie-rod 130 which maintains 'the free y Y 'ends' 'thereofin-propenspaced relation; The free" ends f" Y l 2,730,995V

'slidablein' 'aguidewayl 40 'suitablysupported 'onthe frame ofthe machine; Tlieiplunger 39 may be vertically'recip- Yrecated:inthe .gideway T40 in1proper1ytim`ed relation with -th'e foth'erelements ofrthe machine fbylmehanismgsuch as is described and illustrated in the aforesaid patent, N'ol 'the lever 41'which'preferably-has itslrounded free end projectinginto 'aslotf42at the Vupperl'end ofv plunger 39 and 'engaging the' pperfend'of suchfslot-and a yieldably -rnounted memberf43 'carried by'a block? 44`se'ci1re'd to' the '-it'sreciprocal movements, the plate 36 thi-rough the rollers 35, 35, will cause thear'rns 27, -27,to move downwardly 'full line position'shownin Figll ofthe drawings, to 'the dotted line yposition thereof." Thus, asthecarriage 14re tracts the llabel fcarri'r' Y'11 to receivefjanother label, the roller 25 will pre's'sthe label23deposited on'theart'icle'lZ vfirmly andevenly'onthe latter.'4 'During-thisfollowin'g movementofthe roller 25,'the `rollers' 35,35, will rotate along' the -u'nderside 'of' thepresser plate 3.76 to'the'hend thereof and 'tinues its movement to 'en will roll off suchplate as -the carrier con- Y 'Y the place of label supply.- The presser plate 136 maybe made of varying lle'rtgthstoY main- Vtain the roller 25 depressed for varying 'periods 'dependingupon'fthe lengths'of i ticles, or thelplate maybe adjustably mounted on the sh'oe '36,- as indicated in vthe drawings,to-enable it tobe adjusted lengthwise ofthe path of movement of the labelfcarrier As the carrier 1I continues itsmoinni'eiit'tof` the left, the

' 'rollers 35,35, come 'inte engagement withthe"righeha'ndY 'end o f plate-36 andare slightly depressed 'as they roll `into 'th'elabels togbei-appliedto the arengagement withthe underside thereoff yThe righthand end of plate 36 is preferably'beveled on its undersu'rface `to facilitate the engagement 'of the rollers 35, 35, therewith. During the continued advancing movement (of car- -rierV 11, the Vrollers 35, 35, will roll across the plate 36-with the roller 25 in a substantially fully raised position.` At the end of the advancing movement of carrier 11, it is lowered and raised bythe track 20 in the mannerA previously explained to deposit the label carried thereby Yupon lthe article* 12, and to bring it to a position to be longitudinally retracted by the carriage 14 on the return movement of the latter. This point in the operation of the pars is illustrated in full lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings. When 'the vcarriage 14 `starts its return mcvemenbto the right 'along theirail 15 to" retract the label carrier 11 to the .label supply station, the lever 41 will be rocked downwardly on. its `shaft to shift the plunger 39 downwardly. This' causes the shoe 37 and plate 36 to move downwardly,

the latter through the rollers 35, 35, causing the arms 27 27, to be rocked downwardly about the axis of shafts 28, 28, to bring the roller- 25 down to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1. The rocking of lever 41 is so timed that the roller 25 is in its lowermost position immediately after the carrier 11 has started its return movement, and before the carrier 11 has been retracted'suiciently to bring roller 25 over the portion of the bottle to which the label has Ybeen,applied.- As the carrier 11 continues its retracting movement, .the-lever, plunger 39 and Vroller 25 are maintained in their lowered positions, the roller 25 rolling upon the label Ato irnit tq the surface of the article 12. During the progressive'advancement of the roller 25 over the label, its force willbe applied along a line contact, thereby subjecting the label tov a substantially greater ironing pressure than could be applied by a pressure plate using the `same force. Thisprogressive application of force also accomplishessqegeeaction t'yrr'einoye any entrapped Yairftfr'eiri b'etwe'nthef label andfie article, and thereby avoids'the possibility f blisti'sfkfrfringlunder the label.

V25 'is initially depressed, it come into engagementl with the top vsurfaceofft'he guiderail-Sfsjand 'asy thelabell carl'rier'is etractdfthe' roller 2'5'is startedotatin'g' before it ,comes into contact with the label. `Asia result' ofwthis arrangementfany danger of the label shiftin'gon the article when the,rollerL l2'5"'coinesinto engagement-therewith, is eliminated. "The article support 10'isp'referablydmimtd on means wherebyeact registrationoffthe 'article zwith relation to the labeling mechanism may be '6bta1ned- :s shown inrthe drawiitgs,"t meansl includesfa slide; 54 hich supportsV the jbasegSQ of the article 'supporh'and whicli ismounted for slidable movement inthe direction of `longitildirral movement ofv thcarrier 11 on a'plate '55. Adjustment of slide 54 relativetoplatfSS is obtained by `mam'lally manipulating' h andfwheel which contacts" a suitablegiworm `vgear arrange/ment provided; i manner known inthe art, b etweenthe slide5`4 d plate'SS-f` Plate 5 5, is mounted'onfasli'de 57'V which is ablyrnointedor plate 58V for moycmentin vandir'ecti ransv'e'rsdoth direction ofmovernentofslideglide 57 `may* b adustedrelative to ,plate SBjbynianipiilating jt lzfandf iilieel 159i which` vcontrols pa suitablefjyrmjgear `angenrei,

ithegframetoft'rthemachine.'

drawings ali5fid @mbdIIle-.nf mi. -men be apparent to those skilled ingthe artthat yariouschanges and modifications thereof may be made without'departing from the spirit ofI they invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1 In a labeling machine, means to support an article to be labeled,ra label carrier for deliveringalabel to an article on said support, a device mounted on said carrier, for pressing the label delivered to the articleinto rmtcontact with the latter, said device including a rotatably mounted roller and means normally supportingsaid roller onsaid carrier, a movable track, a roller carried by said'movable supporting means coacting with said track, and means for moving said track to move said track roller and said movable supporting meansto advancesaid pressing roller into label pressing position and to apply pressure to saidpressing roller during the pressingof the' label 011 ille article.

2. In a labeling machine, means tol support an article to be labeled, a label carrier for delivering a label to an article on said support, a device mounted on said carrier for pressing the label delivered to the article into firm contact with the latter, said device including a rotatably mounted roller and means movably supporting said roller on said carrier, a movable plate, a roller carried by said movable supporting means and engageable with the underside of said plate, and means for depressing said plate and through said plate roller to cause said movable supporting means to advance said pressing roller into label pressing position and to apply pressure to said pressing roller during the pressing of the label on the article.

3. In a labeling machine, means to support an article to be labeled, a label carrier for delivering a label to an article on said support, horizontally movable means for pressing the label delivered to the article into firm contact with the latter, a vertically operated slider having a pressure member engageable with said horizontally movable means to bring the latter into label pressing position, and means to operate said slide to cause said pressure member to depress said horizontally movable means into said position during a portion of the horizontal movement of the latter.

4. In a labeling machine, a labeling station, means for delivering a label to said labeling station for the label to be adhesively connected to the article to be labeled at said station, a movable rotatably mounted roller for pressing the label to the article at said station, means to advance said roller into contact with the label connected to the article and to roll the same across the surface of the label, means to start the rotation of the roller prior to its engagement with the label, and means to apply pressure to the roller during its travel across the label.

5. In a labeling machine, a labeling station, means for delivering a label to said labeling station for the label to be adhesively connected to the article to be labeled at said station, means at said station for registering an article in proper relation to said label delivery means, a movable rotatably mounted roller for pressing the label to the article at said station, means to advance said roller into contact with the label connected to the article and to roll the same across the surface of the label, means carried by said registering means and engageable by said roller during its advancing movement to start the rotation of the roller prior to its engagement with the label, and means to apply pressure to the roller during its travel across the label.

6. A labeling machine such as dened in claim 5, in which said registering means includes an article support and adjustable means for varying the position of said support, and in which the means for starting the rotation of the roller consists of a track member engageable by said roller, said track member being mounted on said article support.

7. In a labeling machine, a support for an article to be labeled, a label carrying device, means for moving said device to carry a label thereon from a place spaced from said support into position to deposit the label on an article to be labeled, and means for completing the attachment of the. label to the article while such device is. returning, to Snell Place,` .Said last rnentioned .means including e label pressing member, Ineens snpportngsid nrernb-er ,on-.said device for movement as a whole relative to Seid device, endmeans for moving saidV member to e position. to engage the label on the article in pressure rele- .tion and for maintaining .said member in sneh. position sinring the, return movement of. Seid device to Seid-place, Seidtlevioe and Supporting. ineens drawing Seid-member while so maintainedzin such position progressively, across ille label during the return of the devioe tosaid plane.

8l In .e labeling machine, a support for en article to be labeled, e. device having. e label oerryingsnrfaceand Inovf .Tablero e label thereon from. a place Spaeerl'from .Seid support into position to deposit the label on en article to be labeled, a labelpressing member, means for supporting said member for movement relative to the label supporting surface of said device and toward and away from an article on said support, means for maintaining said member in a retracted position with relation to the label carrying surface of said device during the movement of said device to an article to be labeled, means for moving said device and said member while the latter is in retracted position to enable said device to deposit a label on the article to be labeled, and means for advancing said member past the label carrying surface of said device to a position between the latter and the support to engage the label on the article and for maintaining said member in such advanced position while moving the same across the label during the return movement of said device to said place.

9. In a labeling machine, a support for an article to be labeled, a device having a label carrying surface and movable at right angles to a surface of an article on said support into position to deposit a label on such surface, a label pressing member, means for supporting said member for movement relative to the label supporting surface of said device and toward and away from an article on said support, means for maintaining said member in a retracted position with relation to the label carrying surface of said device during the movement of said device to the article to be labeled, means for advancing said member relative to said device in substantially the same direction as the direction of label depositing movement of said device to a position to engage the label on the article, and means for moving said member in a direction substantially at right angles to the direction of the advancing movement thereof and lengthwise of the article surface on which the label is deposited, said advancing means and said moving means coacting to move said member while so maintained in such position progressively along the label on such article surface.

l0. In a labeling machine, a support for an article to be labeled, a device having a label carrying surface and movable to carry a label thereon from a place spaced from said support into position to deposit the label on an article to be labeled and to return to said place after such deposition, a pressing device mounted on said label carrying device for pressing the label delivered to the article into rm contact with the latter and including a rotatably mounted roller and means supporting said roller for pivotal movement on said label carrying device, means for moving said pressing device in a direction substantially lengthwise of the article surface on which the label is to be deposited during the advancement of said label carrying device from said place to said position until the roller is beyond the portion of the article surface on which the label is deposited, means for pivoting said roller supporting means to bring said roller into label pressing position beyond the deposited label, and means for retracting said roller from its advanced position to roll the roller on the label under pressure in a direction substantially lengthwise of the article surface on which the label is deposited.

11` In a labeling machine, a support for an article to be labeled, a device having a label carrying surface for deliveringia label to Van article on said support, a movable label pressing device, means for moving said pressing device from a retracted position and substantially lengthwise ofthe article surface on which the label is deposited to.' an advanced position where said pressing device is beyond the portion ofsuch surface on Which'the label is deposited, means for moving said pressing device While in its advanced position toward said article surface to a label pressing position, said means being constructed and arranged to retract said pressing device from its advanced position in a direction lengthwise ofthe article surface on which the label is deposited while maintaining said pressing device in label pressing position, whereby the label is rpressed on such article surface during such retraction of 15 said pressing device. v

References Cited inthe le of this patent f 535,264 Y 1,044,616 1,343,264Y

UNITED STATES PATENTS g Aubeletal. Ian. 29, 1895 Winkler Nov. 19, 1912 Gwinn lune 15, 1920 Von Hofe Aug. 31, 1943 Bobrov et al Dec. 5, 1950 Beck May 20, 1952 Carter June 10, 1952 Hall et al. Aug. 26, 1952 Y FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Nov. 15, 1926 Great Britain June 14, 1950 man 

